“INDIANA SPIRIT QUEST”
The Indiana Spirit Quest series of
geocaches will take you to a number of small, rural, historic
cemeteries built by Hoosier Pioneers in central/Northeast
Indiana. PRAIRIEPARTNERS has set a record for
one-day ISQ finds on 10-16-2004 at 55! 86 cacher teams have logged
over 1,200 finds.
ISQ STATS as of
11/21/04
TOP TEN FINDS
1. 73 --Buddaman
2. 65 --Sweetie Pie, Dragon Ryders Three
3. 61 --Itzme
4. 55 --Prairepartners
5. 48 --One Angel & Family
6. 45 --Bluegillfisherman
7. 42 --Team Tigger International/Awsome Ev
8. 41 -- Just Mee/ Hutt
9. 40 --Mattster
10. 34 --Jplus14
FTF's
1. 30 --Anonymous
2. 14 --Buddaman
3. 8 --Pinestrail
INDIANA
SPIRIT QUEST #75
”Baintertown"
This quest will take you to a small
cemetery in Elkhart and Jackson townships, Elkhart County. Elkhart
County was named for the Elkhart Indian Tribe, was established in
1831 and the county seat is Goshen.
Baintertown (aka
Rodibaugh) Cemetary
I couldn't find many vets in this cemetery,
but there is a WWI soldier buried up near the front. It was
established in 1831 though, so there must be some civil war guys
around here somewhere. Doesn't appear to be active anymore, but
there's still some room. There isn't really anything left of old
Baintertown anymore, everyone either moved to Elkhart or ended up
here, I guess. --Kodiak Kid & Sunny (Photos by Kodiak
Kid)
At CR29 and CR42 there is a stone marker
commemorating the village of Potawotami War Chief Onaska, "Five
Medals" (his remains lie somewhere nearby).
Chief Five Medals
Near old Baintertown on the Elkhart River, before Indiana was
a state, before Elkhart County was platted, stood the village of
the Potowatomi war chief "Five Medals" whose Indian name was
"Onaska". This decorated chief ceased hostilities against the
United States government after signing the Greenville Treaty in
1795. He met with presidents George Washington, in 1796, and Thomas
Jefferson in 1801, to discuss living at peace with white settlers,
separate but side by side. Five Medals remained peaceful toward the
U.S. Government even though his village was destroyed by U.S.
troops in 1812 and again in 1813. His remains are forever embraced
nearby by Mother Earth which the Potowatomi so cherished.
Not long after his death another community of people came to
live near the Elkhart kRiver, who also wished to remain separate
yet live side by side with others. Their beliefs were forged during
the Reformation in Switzerland. These were the Anabaptists (Swiss
Mennonites, Amish) who remained unwelcome in Europe until none were
left. For the last century and a half these prosperous people have
forged a home in Elkhart County, living among yet separate from
their neighbors. They have been seminal in creating the character
of Elkhart County's unique personality. Now another wave of
immigrants of Hispanic decent has come to find economic opportunity
in Indiana in the last decade of the 20th century. They too wish to
remain separate, maintaining their own lingual and family
traditions, while becoming contributors to the economy. How their
assimilation is handled will define much of the area's history into
the 21st century.
Elkhart County, Indiana, bisected
diagonally by the Elkhart and St. Joseph Rivers, was made square by
Thomas Jefferson's penchant for geometric shapes in his political
designs for the Northwest Territory. This simplicity continues to
hide a most unique and diverse community of men and
women...
UPDATE 8-8-06: CACHE HAS BEEN RELOCATED.
UPDATE 3-21-09 CACHE HAS BEEN RELOCATED
The cache container
was a 2" diameter plastic container covered with camo duct
tape, then a small cylinder, now a plastic tube. BYOP. Park
with care. If you find a fallen US flag, please stick it
back in the ground. As always, please be respectful, and cache
in, trash out.
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copyright 2004 RikSu Outfitters unless otherwise noted. We are
SixDogTeam and you are not and we approve of this cache. Don't mean
nuthin'!!
NIGHT CACHING NOT ALLOWED IN CEMETERIES